So the big day finally arrived. We accepted delivery of our new Z3 after the lake test this afternoon.

As much as we were both really excited and I was a bit worried I'd built up the expectations in my head too much, so far I'm pleasantly surprised.

We had the boat out for about an hour on the water today with the dealer for the "orientation", which after owning a Tige for the last 11 years was a bit of a formality, but we learned a thing or two that we'd have had trouble figuring out otherwise. Mostly about operating the Tige Touch. As usual John from Hyperactive was phenomenal, and as jaded and level-headed as ever . I don't know how he survives doing several deliveries a day this time of year with new owners that are so excited. I guess when you deliver this many boats it becomes trivial. The delivery itself was perfect and professional. When we arrived, the boat was on the lift ready for us and even though John got stuck in traffic and ran a little late meeting us, he called to tell us to take it out for a spin and pick him up at the dock when he arrived.

After following Ragboy's write-up on the stock pro-ballast surf setup, we were able to get a pretty darn good looking surf wave on the first try. If I'd known the water would have been a balmy 62F I would have brought my surfboard back from the lake and given it a shot.

Our biggest anxiety was over what the wakeboard wake would look like. I added a preset for myself on the Tige You setup with speed @ 23mph, ballast at 50% all the way around and TAPS at 5, based solely on the setup of our old 21V RE. The wake looked incredible. We of course tried it again with the ballast full and it looked just gnarly. Expect more pics through the weekend and a full write-up on the wakeboard wake and performance. IDK what the water temperature is in Idaho but I'm trying this wake...

Both Dad and I were pretty surprised at how different it felt to drive the boat over our '01 21V RE. It felt like going from driving a porche where you could feel EVERYTHING, to driving an Audi with all the luxury options. Everything was smooth and solid and luxurious. It was nice but it's going to take some adjustment time to feel comfortable. Both of us were having a hell of a time "feeling" when the boat was in or out of gear at idle. After the palpable "clunk" we were used to, this was almost too silky smooth.

The lake was pretty calm for our test so we didn't get much of a feel for how the bigger boat would handle rougher water. This is a big concern since the boat spends all it's time on a VERY large lake that can get pretty rough very fast in a storm. We did get a little surprise however. I was testing how well the boat handled at wakeboard speed with the ballast full and doing double up turns. Our old boat had a tendency to naturally bleed a lot of speed in the turn and then the perfect pass would try to overcompensate pulling the rider through the double up at 1-3 mph faster that they wanted.

The Z3 did a better job of controlling the throttle coming out of the turn, even though I did a bit too tight a turn. What really shocked us was when we were all looking behind us to see how big the double up looked, we noticed something was very wrong. There was something missing from the double-ups we were used to on the old boat. It was customary to feel three large "whacks" as we crossed our own wake coming into the double up. With the Z3, we felt nothing. I mean NOTHING. It was so much bigger and heavier, it split our own rollers like they were butter.

I of course had the camera on hand to take some pics of the boat in it's finished state so with no further ado, the pictures...

Please excuse the watermarks after the water test as we were trying to get home in time to beat the storm that looked like it was coming. Since we're towing the boat to the lake tomorrow for the long weekend we'll have plenty more dirt to clean off at the lake.

Notice the $*#t eating grin on my father's face. He's the VERY proud new owner of this beauty. It's days like this I'm glad I'm close with my family.

Oh you will. I was so excited about the boat that I forgot to bring my camera when we lake tested it.

There will be pics of me riding the wake as soon as there's calm water and some sun in Sandpoint, ID this weekend....

First impression of the wake was very good. Excellent shape, far rampier than our '01 21V RE with less of an agressive lip. Also not as wide as I was expecting. I think I'll be comfortable at my usual 70-80ft line length. The size was pretty impressive from the boat with the 2300lbs of stock "pro-ballast" and 4 people in the boat. Significantly larger than I'm used to and I was doing just fine with what we had.

With all the biased opions these days regarding boats, it's so nice to see someone who understands why we love this industry.... family and fun... Congrats on the new set up its a beautiful boat and really cool to see someone so family oriented. Hope you and your fam have a great summer, post some wake/surf pics when you get the chance

With all the biased opions these days regarding boats, it's so nice to see someone who understands why we love this industry.... family and fun... Congrats on the new set up its a beautiful boat and really cool to see someone so family oriented. Hope you and your fam have a great summer, post some wake/surf pics when you get the chance

Even though we were a little biased having been Tige owners for 11 years previously, we looked at every other competitors options (MC X30, Bu 23LSV, SANTE 230) and still ended up with the Z3. I've always been a Tige fan but I've ridden tons of boats and loved their wakes too. It's not about what brand or what fancy options you've got (this is our first boat with tower speakers and real ballast), it's about how much fun you have.

I'm just happy that my family decides to spend money on something we can all enjoy. I'm 29 and sure I could go buy myself a new Axis, MB or used boat but what's the point when my 57 year old father still loves wakeboarding and can get 6ft of air behind our old Tige with no ballast....

The boat is the one thing that brings our entire immediate (and extended) family, as well as friends, together every year. We spend almost all our spare time at the lake house mostly to use the boat. We invite each side of my parents family down for a week and I always have my friends down for a long weekend. Our family and friends will drive 10+ hours to come spend a week/end at the lake and have a ride or two behind the boat.

Our biggest motivation for upgrading wasn't all the fancy bells and whistles of the new boats, but rather that we are on a HUGE lake that gets rough and the 21ft was a bit small in rough water. Especially with grandparents and kids in the boat. We also tend to take large groups (10+) out for an afternoon or across the lake to the restaurants for dinner. The 21V was just a bit too small for that to be comfortable.

Other than my little brother, who unfortunately injured his back a few years ago and hasn't been able to wakeboard since, I'm the only real hardcore wakeboarder in the family. Everyone else enjoys it and takes their set or two per day but just isn't as into it as me (Dad's pretty close though). My mom saw the wake on the new boat with the ballast full and was paranoid it would be too big for her to ride until we slowed down and emptied the ballast!

There will definitely be a full review of the surf and wakeboard wake after I get behind the boat this weekend. In the meantime, thanks for all the kind comments.

Please excuse the watermarks after the water test as we were trying to get home in time to beat the storm that looked like it was coming. Since we're towing the boat to the lake tomorrow for the long weekend we'll have plenty more dirt to clean off at the lake.

Well I'm glad to hear it Neil! It's ok to be biased, especially if you've had a great experience with Tige. I'm biased as well but truthfully it's more preference than quality and all the other arguments. It was just nice to see a solid write up that revolved more around excitement and family than "this is the best boat you can buy" kind of talk. Great write up, can't wait to see the pics